The Formula One stewards have explained the mitigating factor that led to Charles Leclerc receiving a five-second penalty rather than a harsher punishment after he went off track while fighting Lewis Hamilton for the lead of the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Hamilton started the race on pole for the first time since joining Ferrari, but he was overtaken by his team-mate, who fought for the lead into turn one and maintained the challenge throughout the opening lap. Leclerc eventually got through but ended up having to cut across the grass while defending against Hamilton.
The race director had warned drivers that such actions would be viewed dimly, and both drivers were soon placed under investigation. A five-second penalty was given to Leclerc for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Hamilton and Verstappen react
Both Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who had taken advantage of the duel to slip in between the two Ferraris, expressed their surprise at the decision. Hamilton was particularly furious about it.
"He's got clean air and doesn't have to manage like the rest of us. He should just give the positions back," he complained over the radio, to no avail.
However, it was Hamilton's own actions which led to Leclerc being let off lightly, the stewards have now explained. In the official FIA decision document, they detailed the mitigating factor which saw Leclerc avoid a harsher punishment.
Stewards' explanation
"The stewards have determined that both cars entered turn four with excessive speed and therefore neither would have been able to make the corner on track, as demonstrated by the fact that car 44 [Hamilton] which was on the inside, had to go off track to make the corner," they wrote.
"Car 16 [Leclerc] was therefore not entitled to claim the corner due to the excessive entry speed. The driver then completed an overtake whilst off track and, accordingly, this warrants a penalty."
"The baseline penalty guideline is 10 seconds. However, in mitigation is the fact that car 44 was also off track on the inside of car 16 and this occurred early in the first lap."
Penalty served and race red-flagged
Leclerc had not pitted before the penalty call came, so he had to serve it when he came into the pit lane for fresh rubber. Verstappen followed the Ferrari in on the same lap and leapfrogged the Monegasque as a result, as Ferrari mechanics had to wait for at least five seconds before touching the car.
They maintained those positions until the race was red-flagged because of a hefty Valtteri Bottas crash on lap 46. The front-left corner of his Cadillac completely collapsed under the strain of heavy braking into turn one, and the suspension snapped, leaving the Finn a helpless passenger.
Bottas hit the barrier hard and, while he got out of the car under his own power and put a thumb up to fans, was taken to the medical centre. The crash led to an extensive delay as repair work was carried out on the barrier he hit.
